Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 1: “Creation”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter Fifteen
SB1.15.25-26
TEXTS 25–26
jalaukasam jale yadvan
mahanto ’danty aniyasah
durbalan balino rajan
mahanto balino mithah
evam balisthair yadubhir
mahadbhir itaran vibhuh
yadun yadubhir anyonyam
bhu-bharan sanjahara ha
SYNONYMS
jalaukasam—of the aquatics; jale—in the water; yadvat—as it is; mahantah—the larger one; adanti—swallows; aniyasah—smaller ones; durbalan—the weak; balinah—the stronger; rajan—O King; mahantah—the strongest; balinah—less strong; mithah—in a duel; evam—thus; balisthaih—by the strongest; yadubhih—by the descendants of Yadu; mahadbhih—one who has greater strength; itaran—the common ones; vibhuh—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; yadun—all the Yadus; yadubhih—by the Yadus; anyonyam—among one another; bhu-bharan—the burden of the world; sanjahara—has unloaded; ha—in the past.
TRANSLATION
O King, as in the ocean the bigger and stronger aquatics swallow up the smaller and weaker ones, so also the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to lighten the burden of the earth, has engaged the stronger Yadu to kill the weaker, and the bigger Yadu to kill the smaller.
PURPORT
In the material world the struggle for existence and survival of the fittest are laws because in the material world there is disparity between conditioned souls due to everyone’s desire to lord it over the material resources. This very mentality of lording it over the material nature is the root cause of conditioned life. And to give facility to such imitation lords, the illusory energy of the Lord has created a disparity between conditioned living beings by creating the stronger and the weaker in every species of life. The mentality of lording it over the material nature and the creation has naturally created a disparity and therefore the law of struggle for existence. In the spiritual world there is no such disparity, nor is there such a struggle for existence. In the spiritual world there is no struggle for existence because everyone there exists eternally. There is no disparity because everyone wants to render service to the Supreme Lord, and no one wants to imitate the Lord in becoming the beneficiary. The Lord, being creator of everything, including the living beings, factually is the proprietor and enjoyer of everything that be, but in the material world, by the spell of maya, or illusion, this eternal relation with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is forgotten, and so the living being is conditioned under the law of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest. SB1.15.27 TEXT 27 desa-kalartha-yuktani hrt-tapopasamani ca haranti smaratas cittam govindabhihitani me SYNONYMS desa—space; kala—time; artha—importance; yuktani—impregnated with; hrt—the heart; tapa—burning; upasamani—extinguishing; ca—and; haranti—are attracting; smaratah—by remembering; cittam—mind; govinda—the Supreme Personality of pleasure; abhihitani—narrated by; me—unto me. TRANSLATION Now I am attracted to those instructions imparted to me by the Personality of Godhead [Govinda] because they are impregnated with instructions for relieving the burning heart in all circumstances of time and space. PURPORT Herein Arjuna refers to the instruction of the Bhagavad-gita, which was imparted to him by the Lord on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra. The Lord left behind Him the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita not for the benefit of Arjuna alone, but also for all time and in all lands. The Bhagavad-gita, being spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the essence of all Vedic wisdom. It is nicely presented by the Lord Himself for all who have very little time to go through the vast Vedic literatures like the Upanisads, Puranas and Vedanta-sutras. It is put within the study of the great historical epic Mahabharata, which was especially prepared for the less intelligent class, namely the women, the laborers and those who are worthless descendants of the brahmanas, ksatriyas and higher sections of the vaisyas. The problem which arose in the heart of Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra was solved by the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita. Again, after the departure of the Lord from the vision of earthly people, when Arjuna was face to face with being vanquished in his acquired power and prominence, he wanted again to remember the great teachings of the Bhagavad-gita just to teach all concerned that the Bhagavad-gita can be consulted in all critical times, not only for solace from all kinds of mental agonies, but also for the way out of great entanglements which may embarrass one in some critical hour. The merciful Lord left behind Him the great teachings of the Bhagavad-gita so that one can take the instructions of the Lord even when He is not visible to material eyesight. Material senses cannot have any estimation of the Supreme Lord, but by His inconceivable power the Lord can incarnate Himself to the sense perception of the conditioned souls in a suitable manner through the agency of matter, which is also another form of the Lord’s manifested energy. Thus the Bhagavad-gita, or any authentic scriptural sound representation of the Lord, is also the incarnation of the Lord. There is no difference between the sound representation of the Lord and the Lord Himself. One can derive the same benefit from the Bhagavad-gita as Arjuna did in the personal presence of the Lord. The faithful human being who is desirous of being liberated from the clutches of material existence can very easily take advantage of the Bhagavad-gita, and with this in view, the Lord instructed Arjuna as if Arjuna were in need of it. In the Bhagavad-gita, five important factors of knowledge have been delineated pertaining to (1) the Supreme Lord, (2) the living being, (3) nature, (4) time and space and (5) the process of activity. Out of these, the Supreme Lord and the living being are qualitatively one. The difference between the two has been analyzed as the difference between the whole and the part and parcel. Nature is inert matter displaying the interaction of three different modes, and eternal time and unlimited space are considered to be beyond the existence of the material nature. Activities of the living being are different varieties of aptitudes which can entrap or liberate the living being within and without material nature. All these subject matters are concisely discussed in the Bhagavad-gita, and later the subject matters are elaborated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam for further enlightenment. Out of the five subjects, the Supreme Lord, the living entity, nature, and time and space are eternal, but the living entity, nature and time are under the direction of the Supreme Lord, who is absolute and completely independent of any other control. The Supreme Lord is the supreme controller. The material activity of the living being is beginningless, but it can be rectified by transferral into the spiritual quality. Thus it can cease its material qualitative reactions. Both the Lord and the living entity are cognizant, and both have the sense of identification, of being conscious as a living force. But the living being under the condition of material nature, called mahat-tattva, misidentifies himself as being different from the Lord. The whole scheme of Vedic wisdom is targeted to the aim of eradicating such a misconception and thus liberating the living being from the illusion of material identification. When such an illusion is eradicated by knowledge and renunciation, the living beings are responsible actors and enjoyers also. The sense of enjoyment in the Lord is real, but such a sense in the living being is a sort of wishful desire only. This difference in consciousness is the distinction of the two identities, namely the Lord and the living being. Otherwise there is no difference between the Lord and the living being. The living being is therefore eternally one and different simultaneously. The whole instruction of the Bhagavad-gita stands on this principle. In the Bhagavad-gita the Lord and the living beings are both described as sanatana, or eternal, and the Lord’s abode, far beyond the material sky, is also described as sanatana. The living being is invited to live in the sanatana existence of the Lord, and the process which can help a living being to approach the Lord’s abode, where the liberated activity of the soul is exhibited, is called sanatana-dharma. One cannot, however, reach the eternal abode of the Lord without being free from the misconception of material identification, and the Bhagavad-gita gives us the clue how to achieve this stage of perfection. The process of being liberated from the misconception of material identification is called, in different stages, fruitive activity, empiric philosophy and devotional service, up to transcendental realization. Such transcendental realization is made possible by dovetailing all the above items in relation with the Lord. Prescribed duties of the human being, as directed in the Vedas, can gradually purify the sinful mind of the conditioned soul and raise him to the stage of knowledge. The purified stage of acquiring knowledge becomes the basis of devotional service to the Lord. As long as one is engaged in researching the solution of the problems of life, his knowledge is called jnana, or purified knowledge, but on realizing the actual solution of life, one becomes situated in the devotional service of the Lord. The Bhagavad-gita begins with the problems of life by discriminating the soul from the elements of matter and proves by all reason and argument that the soul is indestructible in all circumstances and that the outer covering of matter, the body and the mind, change for another term of material existence which is full of miseries. The Bhagavad-gita is therefore meant for terminating all different types of miseries, and Arjuna took shelter of this great knowledge, which had been imparted to him during the Kuruksetra battle. SB1.15.28 TEXT 28 suta uvaca evam cintayato jisnoh krsna-pada-saroruham sauhardenatigadhena santasid vimala matih SYNONYMS sutah uvaca—Suta Gosvami said; evam—thus; cintayatah—while thinking of the instructions; jisnoh—of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; krsna-pada—the feet of Krsna; saroruham—resembling lotuses; sauhardena—by deep friendship; ati-gadhena—in great intimacy; santa—pacified; asit—it so became; vimala—without any tinge of material contamination; matih—mind. TRANSLATION Suta Gosvami said: Thus being deeply absorbed in thinking of the instructions of the Lord, which were imparted in the great intimacy of friendship, and in thinking of His lotus feet, Arjuna’s mind became pacified and free from all material contamination. PURPORT Since the Lord is absolute, deep meditation upon Him is as good as yogic trance. The Lord is nondifferent from His name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage and specific actions. Arjuna began to think of the Lord’s instructions to him on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra. Only those instructions began to eliminate the tinges of material contamination in the mind of Arjuna. The Lord is like the sun; the sun’s appearance means immediate dissipation of darkness, or ignorance, and the Lord’s appearance within the mind of the devotee can at once drive away the miserable material effects. Lord Caitanya has therefore recommended constant chanting of the name of the Lord for protection from all contamination of the material world. The feeling of separation from the Lord is undoubtedly painful to the devotee, but because it is in connection with the Lord, it has a specific transcendental effect which pacifies the heart. Feelings of separation are also sources of transcendental bliss, and they are never comparable to contaminated material feelings of separation. SB1.15.29 TEXT 29 vasudevanghry-anudhyana- paribrmhita-ramhasa bhaktya nirmathitasesa- kasaya-dhisano ’rjunah SYNONYMS vasudeva-anghri—the lotus feet of the Lord; anudhyana—by constant remembrance; paribrmhita—expanded; ramhasa—with great velocity; bhaktya—in devotion; nirmathita—subsided; asesa—unlimited; kasaya—dint; dhisanah—conception; arjunah—Arjuna. TRANSLATION Arjuna’s constant remembrance of the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krsna rapidly increased his devotion, and as a result all the trash in his thoughts subsided. PURPORT Material desires in the mind are the trash of material contamination. By such contamination, the living being is faced with so many compatible and incompatible things that discourage the very existence of spiritual identity. Birth after birth the conditioned soul is entrapped with so many pleasing and displeasing elements, which are all false and temporary. They accumulate due to our reactions to material desires, but when we get in touch with the transcendental Lord in His variegated energies by devotional service, the naked forms of all material desires become manifest, and the intelligence of the living being is pacified in its true color. As soon as Arjuna turned his attention towards the instructions of the Lord, as they are inculcated in the Bhagavad-gita, his true color of eternal association with the Lord became manifest, and thus he felt freed from all material contaminations. SB1.15.30 TEXT 30 gitam bhagavata jnanam yat tat sangrama-murdhani kala-karma-tamo-ruddham punar adhyagamat prabhuh SYNONYMS gitam—instructed; bhagavata—by the Personality of Godhead; jnanam—transcendental knowledge; yat—which; tat—that; sangrama-murdhani—in the midst of battle; kala-karma—time and actions; tamah-ruddham—enwrapped by such darkness; punah adhyagamat—revived them again; prabhuh—the lord of his senses. TRANSLATION Because of the Lord’s pastimes and activities and because of His absence, it appeared that Arjuna forgot the instructions left by the Personality of Godhead. But factually this was not the case, and again he became lord of his senses. PURPORT A conditioned soul is enwrapped in his fruitive activities by the force of eternal time. But the Supreme Lord, when He incarnates on the earth, is not influenced by kala, or the material conception of past, present and future. The activities of the Lord are eternal, and they are manifestations of His atma-maya, or internal potency. All pastimes or activities of the Lord are spiritual in nature, but to the laymen they appear to be on the same level with material activities. It so appeared that Arjuna and the Lord were engaged in the Battle of Kuruksetra as the other party was also engaged, but factually the Lord was executing His mission of incarnation and association with His eternal friend Arjuna. Therefore such apparently material activities of Arjuna did not drive him away from his transcendental position, but on the contrary revived his consciousness of the songs of the Lord, as He sang them personally. This revival of consciousness is assured by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gita (18.65) as follows: man-mana bhava mad-bhakto One should think of the Lord always; the mind should not forget Him. One should become a devotee of the Lord and offer obeisances unto Him. One who lives in that fashion becomes undoubtedly endowed with the blessing of the Lord by achieving the shelter of His lotus feet. There is nothing to doubt about this eternal truth. Because Arjuna was His confidential friend, the secret was disclosed to him. Arjuna had no desire to fight with his relatives, but he fought for the mission of the Lord. He was always engaged in the execution of His mission only, and therefore after the Lord’s departure he remained in the same transcendental position, even though it appeared that he forgot all the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita. One should, therefore, adjust the activities of life in pace with the mission of the Lord, and by doing this one is sure to return back home, back to Godhead. This is the highest perfection of life. SB1.15.31 TEXT 31 visoko brahma-sampattya sanchinna-dvaita-samsayah lina-prakrti-nairgunyad alingatvad asambhavah SYNONYMS visokah—free from bereavement; brahma-sampattya—by possession of spiritual assets; sanchinna—being completely cut off; dvaita-samsayah—from the doubts of relativity; lina—merged in; prakrti—material nature; nairgunyat—due to being in transcendence; alingatvat—because of being devoid of a material body; asambhavah—free from birth and death. TRANSLATION Because of his possessing spiritual assets, the doubts of duality were completely cut off. Thus he was freed from the three modes of material nature and placed in transcendence. There was no longer any chance of his becoming entangled in birth and death, for he was freed from material form. PURPORT Doubts of duality begin from the misconception of the material body, which is accepted as the self by less intelligent persons. The most foolish part of our ignorance is our identifying this material body with the self. Everything in relation with the body is ignorantly accepted as our own. Doubts due to misconceptions of “myself” and “mine”—in other words, “my body,” “my relatives,” “my property,” “my wife,” “my children,” “my wealth,” “my country,” “my community,” and hundreds and thousands of similar illusory contemplations—cause bewilderment for the conditioned soul. By assimilating the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita, one is sure to be released from such bewilderment because real knowledge is knowledge that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, Lord Krsna, is everything, including one’s self. Everything is a manifestation of His potency as part and parcel. The potency and the potent are nondifferent, so the conception of duality is at once mitigated by attainment of perfect knowledge. As soon as Arjuna took up the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita, expert as he was, he could at once eradicate the material conception of Lord Krsna, his eternal friend. He could realize that the Lord was still present before him by His instruction, by His form, by His pastimes, by His qualities and everything else related to Him. He could realize that Lord Krsna, his friend, was still present before him by His transcendental presence in different nondual energies, and there was no question of attainment of the association of the Lord by another change of body under the influence of time and space. By attainment of absolute knowledge, one can be in association with the Lord constantly, even in this present life, simply by hearing, chanting, thinking of and worshiping the Supreme Lord. One can see Him, one can feel His presence even in this present life simply by understanding the advaya-jnana Lord, or the Absolute Lord, through the process of devotional service, which begins with hearing about Him. Lord Caitanya says that simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord one can at once wash off the dust on the mirror of pure consciousness, and as soon as the dust is removed, one is at once freed from all material conditions. To become free from material conditions means to liberate the soul. As soon as one is, therefore, situated in absolute knowledge, his material conception of life is removed, or he emerges from a false conception of life. Thus the function of the pure soul is revived in spiritual realization. This practical realization of the living being is made possible due to his becoming free from the reaction of the three modes of material nature, namely goodness, passion and ignorance. By the grace of the Lord, a pure devotee is at once raised to the place of the Absolute, and there is no chance of the devotee’s becoming materially entangled again in conditioned life. One is not able to feel the presence of the Lord in all circumstances until one is endowed with the required transcendental vision made possible by devotional service prescribed in the revealed scriptures. Arjuna had attained this stage long before on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, and when he apparently felt the absence of the Lord, he at once took shelter of the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita, and thus again he was placed in his original position. This is the position of visoka, or the stage of being freed from all grief and anxieties. SB1.15.32 TEXT 32 nisamya bhagavan-margam samstham yadu-kulasya ca svah-pathaya matim cakre nibhrtatma yudhisthirah SYNONYMS nisamya—deliberating; bhagavat—regarding the Lord; margam—the ways of His appearance and disappearance; samstham—end; yadu-kulasya—of the dynasty of King Yadu; ca—also; svah—the abode of the Lord; pathaya—on the way of; matim—desire; cakre—gave attention; nibhrta-atma—lonely and alone; yudhisthirah—King Yudhisthira. TRANSLATION Upon hearing of Lord Krsna’s returning to His abode, and upon understanding the end of the Yadu dynasty’s earthly manifestation, Maharaja Yudhisthira decided to go back home, back to Godhead. PURPORT Maharaja Yudhisthira also turned his attention to the instructions of the Bhagavad-gita after hearing about the Lord’s departure from the vision of earthly people. He began to deliberate on the Lord’s way of appearance and departure. The mission of the Lord’s appearance and disappearance in the mortal universe is completely dependent on His supreme will. He is not forced to appear or disappear by any superior energy, as the living beings appear and disappear, being forced by the laws of nature. Whenever the Lord likes, He can appear Himself from anywhere and everywhere without disturbing His appearance and disappearance in any other place. He is like the sun. The sun appears and disappears on its own accord at any place without disturbing its presence in other places. The sun appears in the morning in India without disappearing from the Western Hemisphere. The sun is present everywhere and anywhere all over the solar system, but it so appears that in a particular place the sun appears in the morning and also disappears at some fixed time in the evening. The time limitation even of the sun is of no concern, and so what to speak of the Supreme Lord who is the creator and controller of the sun. Therefore, in the Bhagavad-gita it is stated that anyone who factually understands the transcendental appearance and disappearance of the Lord by His inconceivable energy becomes liberated from the laws of birth and death and is placed in the eternal spiritual sky where the Vaikuntha planets are. There such liberated persons can eternally live without the pangs of birth, death, old age and disease. In the spiritual sky the Lord and those who are eternally engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord are all eternally young because there is no old age and disease and there is no death. Because there is no death there is no birth. It is concluded, therefore, that simply by understanding the Lord’s appearance and disappearance in truth, one can attain the perfectional stage of eternal life. Therefore, Maharaja Yudhisthira also began to consider going back to Godhead. The Lord appears on the earth or any other mortal planet along with His associates who live with Him eternally, and the members of the Yadu family who were engaged in supplementing the pastimes of the Lord are no other than His eternal associates, and so also Maharaja Yudhisthira and his brothers and mother, etc. Since the appearance and disappearance of the Lord and His eternal associates are transcendental, one should not be bewildered by the external features of appearance and disappearance. SB1.15.33 TEXT 33 prthapy anusrutya dhananjayoditam nasam yadunam bhagavad-gatim ca tam ekanta-bhaktya bhagavaty adhoksaje nivesitatmopararama samsrteh SYNONYMS prtha—Kunti; api—also; anusrutya—overhearing; dhananjaya—Arjuna; uditam—uttered by; nasam—end; yadunam—of the Yadu dynasty; bhagavat—of the Personality of Godhead; gatim—disappearance; ca—also; tam—all those; eka-anta—unalloyed; bhaktya—devotion; bhagavati—unto the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna; adhoksaje—transcendence; nivesita-atma—with full attention; upararama—became released from; samsrteh—material existence. TRANSLATION Kunti, after overhearing Arjuna’s telling of the end of the Yadu dynasty and disappearance of Lord Krsna, engaged in the devotional service of the transcendental Personality of Godhead with full attention and thus gained release from the course of material existence. PURPORT The setting of the sun does not mean the end of the sun. It means that the sun is out of our sight. Similarly, the end of the mission of the Lord on a particular planet or universe only means that He is out of our sight. The end of the Yadu dynasty also does not mean that it is annihilated. It disappears, along with the Lord, out of our sight. As Maharaja Yudhisthira decided to prepare to go back to Godhead, so also Kunti decided, and thus she fully engaged herself in the transcendental devotional service of the Lord which guarantees one a passport for going back to Godhead after quitting this present material body. The beginning of devotional service to the Lord is the beginning of spiritualizing the present body, and thus an unalloyed devotee of the Lord loses all material contact in the present body. The abode of the Lord is not a myth, as is thought by the unbelievers or ignorant people, but one cannot reach there by any material means like a sputnik or space capsule. But one can certainly reach there after leaving this present body, and one must prepare himself to go back to Godhead by practicing devotional service. That guarantees a passport for going back to Godhead, and Kunti adopted it. SB1.15.34 TEXT 34 yayaharad bhuvo bharam tam tanum vijahav ajah kantakam kantakeneva dvayam capisituh samam SYNONYMS yaya—that by which; aharat—took away; bhuvah—of the world; bharam—burden; tam—that; tanum—body; vijahau—relinquished; ajah—the unborn; kantakam—thorn; kantakena—by the thorn; iva—like that; dvayam—both; ca—also; api—although; isituh—controlling; samam—equal. TRANSLATION The supreme unborn, Lord Sri Krsna, caused the members of the Yadu dynasty to relinquish their bodies, and thus He relieved the burden of the world. This action was like picking out a thorn with a thorn, though both are the same to the controller. PURPORT Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura suggests that the rsis like Saunaka and others who were hearing Srimad-Bhagavatam from Suta Gosvami at Naimisaranya were not happy to hear about the Yadu’s dying in the madness of intoxication. To give them relief from this mental agony, Suta Gosvami assured them that the Lord caused the members of the Yadu dynasty to relinquish their bodies by which they had to take away the burden of the world. The Lord and His eternal associates appeared on earth to help the administrative demigods in eradicating the burden of the world. He therefore called for some of the confidential demigods to appear in the Yadu family and serve Him in His great mission. After the mission was fulfilled, the demigods, by the will of the Lord, relinquished their corporeal bodies by fighting amongst themselves in the madness of intoxication. The demigods are accustomed to drinking the soma-rasa beverage, and therefore the drinking of wine and intoxication are not unknown to them. Sometimes they were put into trouble for indulging in intoxication. Once the sons of Kuvera fell in the wrath of Narada for being intoxicated, but afterwards they regained their original forms by the grace of the Lord Sri Krsna. We shall find this story in the Tenth Canto. For the Supreme Lord, both the asuras and the demigods are equal, but the demigods are obedient to the Lord, whereas the asuras are not. Therefore, the example of picking out a thorn by another thorn is quite befitting. One thorn, which causes pinpricks on the leg of the Lord, is certainly disturbing to the Lord, and the other thorn, which takes out the disturbing elements, certainly gives service to the Lord. So although every living being is a part and parcel of the Lord, still one who is a pinprick to the Lord is called an asura, and one who is a voluntary servitor of the Lord is called a devata, or demigod. In the material world the devatas and asuras are always contending, and the devatas are always saved from the hands of the asuras by the Lord. Both of them are under the control of the Lord. The world is full of two kinds of living beings, and the Lord’s mission is always to protect the devatas and destroy the asuras, whenever there is such a need in the world, and to do good to both of them. SB1.15.35 TEXT 35 yatha matsyadi-rupani dhatte jahyad yatha natah bhu-bharah ksapito yena jahau tac ca kalevaram SYNONYMS yatha—as much as; matsya-adi—incarnation as a fish, etc.; rupani—forms; dhatte—eternally accepts; jahyat—apparently relinquishes; yatha—exactly like; natah—magician; bhu-bharah—burden of the world; ksapitah—relieved; yena—by which; jahau—let go; tat—that; ca—also; kalevaram—body. TRANSLATION The Supreme Lord relinquished the body which He manifested to diminish the burden of the earth. Just like a magician, He relinquishes one body to accept different ones, like the fish incarnation and others. PURPORT The Supreme Lord Personality of Godhead is neither impersonal nor formless, but His body is nondifferent from Him, and therefore He is known as the embodiment of eternity, knowledge and bliss. In the Brhad-vaisnava Tantra it is clearly mentioned that anyone who considers the form of Lord Krsna to be made of material energy must be ostracized by all means. And if by chance the face of such an infidel is seen, one must clean himself by jumping in the river with his clothing. The Lord is described as amrta, or deathless, because He has no material body. Under the circumstances, the Lord’s dying or quitting His body is like the jugglery of a magician. The magician shows by his tricks that he is cut to pieces, burnt to ashes or made unconscious by hypnotic influences, but all are false shows only. Factually the magician himself is neither burnt to ashes nor cut to pieces, nor is he dead or unconscious at any stage of his magical demonstration. Similarly, the Lord has His eternal forms of unlimited variety, of which the fish incarnation, as was exhibited within this universe, is also one. Because there are innumerable universes, somewhere or other the fish incarnation must be manifesting His pastimes without cessation. In this verse, the particular word dhatte (“eternally accepted,” and not the word dhitva, “accepted for the occasion”) is used. The idea is that the Lord does not create the fish incarnation; He eternally has such a form, and the appearance and disappearance of such an incarnation serves particular purposes. In the Bhagavad-gita (7.24–25) the Lord says, “The impersonalists think that I have no form, that I am formless, but that at present I have accepted a form to serve a purpose, and now I am manifested. But such speculators are factually without sharp intelligence. Though they may be good scholars in the Vedic literatures, they are practically ignorant of My inconceivable energies and My eternal forms of personality. The reason is that I reserve the power of not being exposed to the nondevotees by My mystic curtain. The less intelligent fools are therefore unaware of My eternal form, which is never to be vanquished and is unborn.” In the Padma Purana it is said that those who are envious and always angry at the Lord are unfit to know the actual and eternal form of the Lord. In the Bhagavatam also it is said that the Lord appeared like a thunderbolt to those who were wrestlers. Sisupala, at the time of being killed by the Lord, could not see Him as Krsna, being dazzled by the glare of the brahmajyoti. Therefore, the temporary manifestation of the Lord as a thunderbolt to the wrestlers appointed by Kamsa, or the glaring appearance of the Lord before Sisupala, was relinquished by the Lord, but the Lord as a magician is eternally existent and is never vanquished in any circumstance. Such forms are temporarily shown to the asuras only, and when such exhibitions are withdrawn, the asuras think that the Lord is no more existent, just as the foolish audience thinks the magician to be burnt to ashes or cut to pieces. The conclusion is that the Lord has no material body, and therefore He is never to be killed or changed by His transcendental body.
mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaisyasi satyam te
pratijane priyo ’si me